6.—(1) Subject to this Act, an employee who has been employed for a period of 12 months continuous employment by the employer from whose employment the carer's leave is proposed to be taken shall be entitled to leave from the employment concerned (to be known and referred to in this Act as “carer's leave”) for the purpose of providing full-time care and attention to a relevant person for a period not exceeding 65 weeks for each relevant person if—

(a) the person in respect of whom the employee proposes to provide full-time care and attention is a relevant person,

(b) the employee provides the employer concerned with a decision referred to in subsection (5), or, where appropriate, subsection (6),

(c) during the period of carer's leave the employee provides full-time care and attention to the relevant person, and

(d) during the period of carer's leave the employee does not engage in employment or self-employment other than employment or self-employment prescribed under section 82B(3) (inserted by the Act of 2000) of Chapter 11A of Part II of the Act of 1993.

(2) An employee shall give the employer a copy of the decision referred to in subsection (1)(b) as soon as he or she receives it and the employee shall not be entitled to carer's leave until the employer has been given the copy.

(3) An employee shall not be entitled to carer's leave for the purpose of providing full-time care and attention to a relevant person during the same period in which another employee is absent from employment on carer's leave for the purpose of providing full-time care and attention to the same relevant person.

(4) An employee shall, subject to section 7
(2), be entitled to a period of carer's leave for one relevant person at any one time.

(5) An employee who proposes to avail of carer's leave shall apply to the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs for a decision by a deciding officer under the Act of 1993 that the person in respect of whom the employee proposes to avail of carer's leave in order to provide full-time care and attention is a relevant person for the purposes of Chapter 11A (inserted by the Act of 2000) of Part II of the Act of 1993.

(6) A decision of a deciding officer under subsection (5) may be appealed under section 257 of the Act of 1993.

(7) For the avoidance of doubt it is declared that entitlement to carer's benefit under Chapter 11A (inserted by the Act of 2000) of Part II of the Act of 1993 is not a condition for entitlement to carer's leave.